“We Don’t Want Nobody, Nobody Sent”
“We don’t want nobody, nobody sent.” The Classic stone wall blow-off that newcomers received when trying to get their foot in the door for a job or political office.
The above phrase is as much as “Chicago” as the Chicago River. It stems back to 1948 when a very young Abner Mikva – – later being a Congressman, White House Counsel and Chief Judge of the U.S Court of Appeals – – walked into a Democratic Machine boss’ office seeking to volunteer in politics. He was told, “We don’t want nobody, nobody sent” and was shown the door.
That phrase represents a culture in this region, perhaps like nowhere else in the country. The City of Chicago, the State of Illinois is a close-knit community. It is all about trust, respect and validation. In community relations, it is also called, a “trusted voice.”
Significant credit for the success of the enrollment efforts for CountyCare is due to The Prairie Group. The Prairie Group’s sharply targeted outreach efforts relied upon its deep knowledge of the communities served by the Cook County Health & Hospitals System, and particularly of the leaders in those racially and ethnically diverse communities: governmental, civic, and religious. I am grateful to The Prairie Group for its major contribution, under severe timeline constraints, for mounting systematic, community-focused, stakeholder outreach and enrollment efforts.
The Prairie Group is and has been a trusted voice in the community – – throughout Chicago and the State of Illinois for several decades. No one comes close to The Prairie Group as a trusted and respected voice. Former U.S. House Speaker once said, “All politics is local.” The Prairie Group believes that, all community outreach is local. Our “local” approach to penetrate the various and diverse segments of the community is unique.
We hired The Prairie Group several years ago to assist Comcast with their community relations strategy. We required a firm with a “boots on the ground” approach, a firm that understands and knows the diversified communities throughout Cook County. The Prairie Group has a vast network of relationship that stretches every corner of the Chicago Metropolitan area. They are effective and they deliver.
We work with all facets of the community to reach our goals, including the faith-based community, business and governmental leaders, African, Hispanic, Asian, white ethnic and other community leaders, homeless and other social agencies, organized labor, chambers of commerce, other service organizations and others. The Prairie Group understands the diversified communities throughout Cook County, the State of Illinois. Their team has a vast network of relationship that stretch every corner of every neighborhood, every ward, township and county throughout the State of Illinois.
We are goal-oriented. We get the job done. Success is our proof.
I recently took over the reins as CEO of Roseland Community Hospital. This hospital was about to fail, leaving a huge vacuum of much needed healthcare services for Chicago’s Southside. I was not going to let that happen. I built a world-class team that would have to turn around the fate of Roseland. One of those team members is, The Prairie Group. Fred and his team know the community like no one I know, are fully accessible – 24/7, strategic and methodic… they simply know how to get things done!